Avoid ‘Eggs in one basket’
Schools are having to think outside of the box in terms of their financial management, and develop additional ways to generate income.
Many fear that income generation will be an ill-afforded distraction from a school’s core purpose and without careful planning this could easily be the case. When considering potential income streams you should ask three questions: why, how and what if? Also does this fit with the school vision, mission and values – if so the plan should fall into place.
Once you have the strategy you should ensure you have:
Positive thinking and whole school buy-in
The right leader and champion
The right team with resources and support structure
Celebrate success regardless of how small
Continue to aim high – raise the bar
Are you sitting on assets that are currently under-utilized (both in term time and school holidays), such as sports halls, swimming pools, sports pitches and catering facilities that could be let to local community clubs and associations to generate additional income? Does the school have expertise or skills that could be hired out to local businesses, i.e. IT or financial management?
By working in partnership with other schools in your federation, group or locality there are opportunities to generate income and efficiencies through a joined up strategy of sharing resources, staffing and through purchasing muscle.
It’s also worth noting that it’s possible for schools to generate ‘passive’ income, whereby after the initial investment in time, income will continue to be generated with minimal further input (renewable energy as an example). If your school is in a prominent position with good passing traffic, are there any external areas of the school that could be used for advertising space?
As with all new ventures it would be prudent to seek professional advice from the outset.
For further advice and assistance on developing and successfully implementing an income generation and savings strategy please contact www.p5e.co.uk and we will be glad to help.
